Critique Style Requested: Standard
The photographer is looking for generalized feedback about the aesthetic and technical qualities of their image.
Description
One of many images of this whooping crane pair taken at Aransas NWR in Texas.
Specific Feedback
Taken in 10:00AM Texas sun with clear skies. I wanted both birds in focus so set the F stop at 16 to achieve adequate DOF and because they were slowly moving set the SS at 1/500. ISO and WB were set for auto. I am interested in how to avoid the blown out whites in this scenario.
Technical Details
Nikon Z8
Z100-400 TC 1.4
F16
SS 1/500
ISO 720
Focal length 150
I have the same problem, Dan. The bird on the left looks pretty good. Can you bring down the highlights on the right bird? Though when I try this I usually end up with a gray tone-I hope other’s chime in with ideas. Can you bring up the shadows on the right bird’s face? I guess you can expose for the brightest area and hope there’s enough dynamic range to work the image in LR. Overall, though, I find this a pleasing image, both for the birds as well as the environment. Wish I was there.
Hi Daniel, f16 was a good choice to get both birds sharp. The birds’ whites don’t look too seriously blown to me. I’m wondering if bringing down highlights further in Adobe Camera Raw would get you to the look you want.
My method of exposure of whites when shooting in the field is turning on highlight warnings / highlight alerts (nicknamed “blinkies”) that will flash when an area in the image is overexposed. I choose settings where the blinkies are just barely not being seen in the image. Others choose an exposure where just a few blinkies show with the intent of taking the highlights down in post processing. Either way, the whites using this technique should need minimal adjustment while the dark areas will need to be lightened to show proper detail (raising the shadows slider). It’s important to shoot in RAW to have the most leeway when adjusting the whites and dark areas.
Thanks for your suggestion on this image and the other one I posted yesterday. I will work on them and re-post in a week or so. Headed back to the PNW in the morning which will mean 5-6 days on the road. I do have the RAW images and can put them back in Camera RAW and see what happens.
Sounds good. Keep in mind the blinkies are enabled in camera for use while taking the photographs.
This is a very nice composition, and it’s amazing to get this close to them! Whites are a little hot and WB is a little blue, but not a big deal.
Carefully balance Highlights (down), Shadows (up) and Exposure wherever it needs to be. If things start to look flat add a small amount of Clarity for midtone contrast. Shoot an exposure bracket if the camera allows it, and choose the best one later.
If highlights are too overexposed there is no getting them back. Darks are easier to recover these days with the NR we have.
